saramarie08's review against another edition
2.0
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Illustrated by Ian Bertram, colored by Matt Hollingsworth
Little Bird's village comes under attack from the American Empire, but her mom has a great plan: squirrel her away until the violence is over, then set her on freeing a great warrior named Axe. Axe will save the people, and save the North, aka Canada, the last bastion of resistance against the Empire. Little Bird's family lineage is not what she was originally led to believe, and the Bishop who's coming after her now has more secrets than all of them combined.
I originally pounced on the opportunity to read this book because it won an Eisner Award for Best Limited Series, and nominated for 2 other categories, but I was left disappointed that this edged out other cool stories. This story leaves much to be desired. I was starting to think halfway through that I had missed another book somewhere before this, like this was actually volume 2, because of the lack of world building overall. There were so many things we were just supposed to "go with" and not question or care to figure out. There is something affecting the populace negatively, but I'm not entirely sure what. There was nothing to indicate why the Christian Church was what fueled this evil Empire.
The art is very psychedelic and full of squiggly guts in every panel. Someone gets shot in the arm? guess what, intestines leak out.
There is lots of violence, cussing for the sake of cussing, lots of gore, murder, and nudity. Image rates this for mature, and I probably wouldn't put it in a high school collection.
Sara's Rating: 4/10
Suitability Level: Adult
This review was made possible with an advanced reader copy from the publisher through Edelweiss.
Illustrated by Ian Bertram, colored by Matt Hollingsworth
Little Bird's village comes under attack from the American Empire, but her mom has a great plan: squirrel her away until the violence is over, then set her on freeing a great warrior named Axe. Axe will save the people, and save the North, aka Canada, the last bastion of resistance against the Empire. Little Bird's family lineage is not what she was originally led to believe, and the Bishop who's coming after her now has more secrets than all of them combined.
I originally pounced on the opportunity to read this book because it won an Eisner Award for Best Limited Series, and nominated for 2 other categories, but I was left disappointed that this edged out other cool stories. This story leaves much to be desired. I was starting to think halfway through that I had missed another book somewhere before this, like this was actually volume 2, because of the lack of world building overall. There were so many things we were just supposed to "go with" and not question or care to figure out. There is something affecting the populace negatively, but I'm not entirely sure what. There was nothing to indicate why the Christian Church was what fueled this evil Empire.
The art is very psychedelic and full of squiggly guts in every panel. Someone gets shot in the arm? guess what, intestines leak out.
There is lots of violence, cussing for the sake of cussing, lots of gore, murder, and nudity. Image rates this for mature, and I probably wouldn't put it in a high school collection.
Sara's Rating: 4/10
Suitability Level: Adult
This review was made possible with an advanced reader copy from the publisher through Edelweiss.
joshuavrysen's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
sbernad08's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rocketwave's review against another edition
4.0
Hmm, this is a difficult one to rate.
I love the artwork and the worldbuilding, very Moebius'esque.
The story however lacks a bit. The end seems a bit rushed and confusing.
If you like euro-style comics with a Moebius vibe you'll probably like this one. A 3.5 star read for me.
I love the artwork and the worldbuilding, very Moebius'esque.
The story however lacks a bit. The end seems a bit rushed and confusing.
If you like euro-style comics with a Moebius vibe you'll probably like this one. A 3.5 star read for me.
octoberrust1108's review against another edition
3.0
A mostly decent story wrapped in a bundle of tired cliches. A ragtag group of rebels start a war against a Christian Nationalist oppressor (quite timely, I must say). It falls very plainly into the “religion bad” argument and while that’s true, it doesn’t offer much depth or new insight to the conversation. Everyone who’s a part of this Inquisition-like kingdom is either downright evil or spineless and unquestioning to the powers that be which makes that aspect of the story fall flat. I think it could be a more interesting concept if both sides of this war were more nuanced, more gray. What if there were people who believed in God, but didn’t agree with this whole religious tyranny thing, ya know, like in real life?
I absolutely loved the artwork. All these different pastel colors were so pleasant to look at, and they accented the very dark tone of the story well. That’s another thing I did like. This book is VICIOUSLY dark. There were a couple pages that had my jaw hanging open just because I couldn’t believe what I was looking at, story wise. There’s a lot of very strong imagery, as well as a great flow throughout the book. It’s always moving and is aware of what the reader wants to see more of, so I’m thankful for that. There are a ton of wicked cool fight scenes that are so much fun to look at and I bet even more fun to draw.
Overall, I enjoyed Little Bird. This book was more of a win than not, I just think the base story was a little weak.
I absolutely loved the artwork. All these different pastel colors were so pleasant to look at, and they accented the very dark tone of the story well. That’s another thing I did like. This book is VICIOUSLY dark. There were a couple pages that had my jaw hanging open just because I couldn’t believe what I was looking at, story wise. There’s a lot of very strong imagery, as well as a great flow throughout the book. It’s always moving and is aware of what the reader wants to see more of, so I’m thankful for that. There are a ton of wicked cool fight scenes that are so much fun to look at and I bet even more fun to draw.
Overall, I enjoyed Little Bird. This book was more of a win than not, I just think the base story was a little weak.
sizrobe's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the art in this book. It very much reminded me of Warhammer 40k, with its hyperreligious empire and gleefully gory ultraviolence. I have to dock it a start as it got a bit hard to follow at times, but still definitely worth a read.
panelparty's review against another edition
3.0
While I adored the art, I found this a bit tedious and extremely difficult to follow.
crookedtreehouse's review against another edition
3.0
A story about a hero vs a tyrranical religious movement should be right up my alley. But somewhere around the second issue, my interest in the story started to wane. The dialogue and narration suggested an epicness in scope that the story didn't really deliver on. The grotesque violence was rendered beautifully by Ian Bertram but it was too over the top for me.
I found no plot point unexpected, no resolution made me happy or angry. I just wasn't invested in the characters. The villains too cartoonishly evil. The protagonists too martryish and magically invincible.
Fans of art that ranges from Frank Quitely to Moebius will probably love this book. It also has some Grant Morrisonly appeal. So it's not a bad book. It just isn't for me.
I found no plot point unexpected, no resolution made me happy or angry. I just wasn't invested in the characters. The villains too cartoonishly evil. The protagonists too martryish and magically invincible.
Fans of art that ranges from Frank Quitely to Moebius will probably love this book. It also has some Grant Morrisonly appeal. So it's not a bad book. It just isn't for me.
themattacaster's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0